Category: Books

This is an essay by Elizabeth Simons. Gazing winsomely from the cover of Growing Up, Russell Baker has an air of self-confidence with just a bit of vulnerability peeking through. Sporting his best suit and tie, with his hair slicked back and severely parted, he looks the picture of quintessential boyhood. The twinkle in his eye invites you to spin your yarns, and the truth will be sorted out later.

This is an essay by Elizabeth Simons. Gazing winsomely from the cover of Growing Up, Russell Baker has an air of self-confidence with just a bit of vulnerability peeking through. Sporting his best suit and tie, with his hair slicked back and severely parted, he looks the picture of quintessential boyhood. The twinkle in his eye invites you to spin your yarns, and the truth will be sorted out later.

Book Review: The World’s Largest Man by Harrison Scott Key Even the most reluctant memoir-readers will enjoy these tales from an even more reluctant southerner. His witty, but often uncomfortably honest portrayals of his family life and upbringing in Tennessee and Mississippi are sure to make you guffaw in public. The Gist: The World’s Largest Man is a collection of vignettes and stories centered around the author’s father, Pop, a larger-than-life last-of-the-true Southern-men sort of character. Pop is the kind of old-school country boy who insists making his sons into “real men” through hard work, hunting, playing football, and hates the fancy neckerchiefs forced on boy scouts. There are hilarious anecdotes

Book Review: The World’s Largest Man by Harrison Scott Key Even the most reluctant memoir-readers will enjoy these tales from an even more reluctant southerner. His witty, but often uncomfortably honest portrayals of his family life and upbringing in Tennessee and Mississippi are sure to make you guffaw in public. The Gist: The World’s Largest Man is a collection of vignettes and stories centered around the author’s father, Pop, a larger-than-life last-of-the-true Southern-men sort of character. Pop is the kind of old-school country boy who insists making his sons into “real men” through hard work, hunting, playing football, and hates the fancy neckerchiefs forced on boy scouts. There are hilarious anecdotes

This article was written by Sarah L. Webb. I’m addicted to reading with a pen in my hand. So addicted, in fact, that I have to have a pen even when I’m reading on my Kindle. Not only am I addicted to reading with pens, but I’m also a pen pusher. My goal is to turn my adult students into pen users just like me (which is a lot harder than pushing pens to youth readers). I wasn’t always this way.

This article was written by Sarah L. Webb. I’m addicted to reading with a pen in my hand. So addicted, in fact, that I have to have a pen even when I’m reading on my Kindle. Not only am I addicted to reading with pens, but I’m also a pen pusher. My goal is to turn my adult students into pen users just like me (which is a lot harder than pushing pens to youth readers). I wasn’t always this way.

This is an essay by Chris Ciolli. Books and movies needn’t compete for our attention and affection. They’re two very different mediums, and they’ve got, as explained in an Williesha Morris’ earlier post , different needs and goals and use different tools to do the same thing—share a story with the world. In fact, although many readers and writers may loathe to admit it, movies and the books that inspire them enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship in which one feeds off and grows from the other. Less than convinced? Let me explain.

This is an essay by Chris Ciolli. Books and movies needn’t compete for our attention and affection. They’re two very different mediums, and they’ve got, as explained in an Williesha Morris’ earlier post , different needs and goals and use different tools to do the same thing—share a story with the world. In fact, although many readers and writers may loathe to admit it, movies and the books that inspire them enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship in which one feeds off and grows from the other. Less than convinced? Let me explain.

This is an essay by Rhonda Kronyk. The list of categories we can choose reading material from is endless. Yet, as busy people, we often choose to read in the genre we write in and forget that all writers can learn from reading outside their genre. I admit that I’ve been guilty of letting my fiction reading slide this year as I work on my freelance writing and editing business. I miss reading novels, but never seem to make the time to fit them into my schedule. That is until my son introduced me to the Game of Thrones television series. I rarely read fantasy fiction, and I never watch it on

This is an essay by Rhonda Kronyk. The list of categories we can choose reading material from is endless. Yet, as busy people, we often choose to read in the genre we write in and forget that all writers can learn from reading outside their genre. I admit that I’ve been guilty of letting my fiction reading slide this year as I work on my freelance writing and editing business. I miss reading novels, but never seem to make the time to fit them into my schedule. That is until my son introduced me to the Game of Thrones television series. I rarely read fantasy fiction, and I never watch it on

This is an essay by Taylor Church. I was not a bibliophile from the beginning. My love of books did not come until late in my adolescence. I never loathed literature, but reading books I found boring and irrelevant in school did not nurture a healthy longing to read. I mostly stuck to the basics: Garfield books, books about NBA players with copious amounts of pictures, and the occasional novel about Wayside Schools or perhaps a fictional baseball player trying to make it the big leagues. As my juvenility slowly progressed into my pubescent years, I began to form a somewhat broader interest in reading. But it only went further into

This is an essay by Taylor Church. I was not a bibliophile from the beginning. My love of books did not come until late in my adolescence. I never loathed literature, but reading books I found boring and irrelevant in school did not nurture a healthy longing to read. I mostly stuck to the basics: Garfield books, books about NBA players with copious amounts of pictures, and the occasional novel about Wayside Schools or perhaps a fictional baseball player trying to make it the big leagues. As my juvenility slowly progressed into my pubescent years, I began to form a somewhat broader interest in reading. But it only went further into

This is an essay by Susan Sundwall. It’s an interesting word, genre, a bit snooty sounding. It means kind or type. If someone asks what sort of writing you do, they expect a genre answer. The question frequently stumps me. My first mystery was recently published, so you’d think I’d answer “mystery,” but the word tends to stick in my throat. There’s a hesitation there, because I don’t want this asker to think that’s all I write – I’m broader than that. I don’t want her to think that’s all I read, either. Yeah, I’m broader and, dare I say, more beautiful than that, too, because of the poetry. It’s true

This is an essay by Susan Sundwall. It’s an interesting word, genre, a bit snooty sounding. It means kind or type. If someone asks what sort of writing you do, they expect a genre answer. The question frequently stumps me. My first mystery was recently published, so you’d think I’d answer “mystery,” but the word tends to stick in my throat. There’s a hesitation there, because I don’t want this asker to think that’s all I write – I’m broader than that. I don’t want her to think that’s all I read, either. Yeah, I’m broader and, dare I say, more beautiful than that, too, because of the poetry. It’s true